I hope all y’all had a great Christmas, I know I certainly did. Lots of time with the wife and kids, squeezed in a little guitar playing, and even had a little time to get a project or two done, like organizing the garage.

My brother, Casey, pre-ordered the new album from Randy Rogers Band, “Nothing Shines Like Neon” and gave it to me as a Christmas gift. That’s awesome in and of itself but he also surprised me with tickets to see them at the Silver Saloon in Terrell, Texas on January 15th. I can only imagine how stoked those guys will be that night because that is the day the new album officially drops. I’ve never seen them live before and I can’t wait to blog about my first RRB show. I’ll also drop a review of their new album once I give it a few spins.

You are probably thinking – “I thought you were some big fan? And this is your first time to see your favorite band live? What kind of 2 percenter are you?”

Yeah, I know but I’ve got a plethora of excuses to throw at you. My favorite three excuses are ages 10, 9, and 5 that keep me busy and by the time 10:30pm rolls around and the headliner takes the stage at whatever metroplex venue, well… there just ain’t a lot of gas left in the tank, at least not enough to get me out to a crowded, smoky bar only to be squeezed in with a bunch of single twenty somethings trying to make some pathetic play on the 6’4” cowboy wearing an undersized Florida Georgia Line T-shirt reeking of BO standing next to me. Grumpy old man syndrome I know, just get off my lawn. Honestly I don’t know how those guys in the band do it. I enjoy getting in bed at 9:30pm every night.

I mentioned my brother surprised me with tickets but in reality a beautiful little elf, my wife, dropped the hint after we missed their last visit to DFW a few weeks back when they played back-to-back nights at Billy Bobs in Fort Worth. We had a date night and I really wanted to go but we were both tired and after I found out they wouldn’t hit the stage until at least 10:30pm I saw the life force drain out of both of us. We had a married couple “Big Saturday” planned and getting in at 2am wasn’t going to cut it.

So I made her promise we could go sometime soon.

Well after perusing www.randyrogersband.com I noticed they were going to be in Terrell at the beginning of 2016. I mentioned it to my wife who seemed game but didn’t buy the tickets. A few days later, the band announced they would be at the House of Blues in Dallas on January 14th which was even better because 1) its closer to our house and 2) they go on at 9pm and not 10pm so us old folks have a fighting chance to stay up late enough. If you haven’t been to the HOB to see a show before, it’s a really great venue. Jess and I went to see Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen do their “Hold My Beer and Watch This” acoustic show back in the summer and it was primo. Another blog post for a different day… Ok, so I’m almost done with story… promise… I mentioned the HOB show on the 14th to my bro who said “we will discuss at Christmas…”, in hindsight an obvious put-off because the wife already put him up to getting me tickets for the Terrell show. So low and behold on Christmas day I get the PERFECT GIFT! Today’s equivalent of shouting from the mountaintop is Tweeting it to the band, so I did.

So come January 16th you’ll likely see a post from me telling you all about the show. Have a happy and safe New Years.

I went to Texas A&M during the ‘90s, so you were pretty much handed a pair of boots when you got on the bus for Fish Camp. Back then you hung out at The Dixie Chicken or Dudley’s, playing bones while Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allen Coe, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard were at the core of the music rotation. It was good stuff and definitely fit the atmosphere of old wood, vomit and stale beer but it really wasn’t until I graduated in 2000 that my passion for Texas music grew. Like a lot of folks my age, my love for Texana matured under the tutelage of Pat Green. “Songs About Texas” prompted me to buy my first Pat Green album, “Here We Go”. I shoved the CD in and I was greeted to track one, the fiddling magic of “George’s Bar”. The music and the lyrics were so local, raw and plain fun and I was hooked. That album was full of gems, big and small – Dancehall Dreamer, I Like Texas, Here We Go, #2, Southbound 35, If I Had A Million. From there, Pat Green tunes were the part of any Texas road trip soundtrack we assembled. You have to admit that driving down 377 through the hill country while Carry On blares through your speakers is pretty darn perfect. I’ve always dreamt of meeting Pat Green and asking him what the hell is “lonely bee-hive pain?” Many years later I saw this TV interview with Pat and Walt Wilkins, who actually wrote the song. The clip is entertaining but skip to 5:30 for the answer.